'American Idiot' set for 5-show run at Hanover

Alex Nee (as Johnny) and Trent Saunders (as St. Jimmy) in a scene from "American Idiot."

It seems like there might be quite a few metaphysical miles between farm country outside Bartlesville, Okla., and the perhaps less rarefied air of Jingletown, USA.

But Kennedy Caughell has made the journey from one to the other, and she couldn't be happier with where she ended up.

In the stage musical “American Idiot,” Jingletown is a kind of suburban wasteland where mind-numbing TV rules and three young males, Johnny, Will and Tunny, go in the direction of no direction, smoking cigarettes and drinking beers in a basement. Meanwhile, Will's girlfriend, Heather, is pregnant and uncertain what she should do.

The musical is an adaptation of the 2004 rock opera “American Idiot” by the punk rock band Green Day. At first, at least, unhappiness and angst prevail as we watch the lives of the protagonists unfold and in some cases unravel. But Caughell said it is also a show that people can relate to, and there's lots of energy in its musical numbers.

“I really enjoy it. It's a show that speaks for the underdog,” said Caughell, who plays Heather in the current national touring production of “American Idiot” that comes to The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts for a five-performance run beginning at 8 p.m. Friday.

“It's your average Joe story. They're stuck in life and don't know how to get out.”

Heather ends up taking her baby and walking out on Will, who remains in drug-induced apathy.

“I think she's strong and smart. She doesn't start off that way, but I really enjoy telling Heather's story because I think it needs to be told,” Caughell said.

As Caughell was getting ready to graduate from Elon University in Elon, N.C., last May, she already knew that she could be on her way to Jingletown, and quite a few other places besides as the musical was scheduled to tour the United Kingdom last fall and the U.S. starting last month.

“The last week of school I was in final call-backs for this tour,” Caughell said during a recent telephone interview as the show was beginning its stateside tour in Norfolk, Va. “I graduated knowing I had to do the ('American Idiot') workshop.”

The musical opened on Broadway in 2010 and was directed by Michael Mayer (whose credits include “Spring Awakening”). Christopher Isherwood of The New York Times was among those impressed, calling the show “thrilling, emotionally charged, and as moving as any Broadway musical I've seen this year.” “American Idiot” ran on Broadway for about a year, then toured before some recasting.

“It's the type of show where you go in expecting a rock concert, but it's a really unique experience,” Caughell said.

There's a lot of dancing and movement that really put the cast through its paces in the first weeks of rehearsals, and continues to do so with each performance.

“Our bodies were transformed over three weeks. You're jumping all over the stage, but it's very carefully choreographed,” Caughell said. “You go to bed exhausted, but I couldn't be happier.”

All the cast now with “American Idiot” was also on the recent United Kingdom tour, which Caughell said went very well.

“I was very happy with how they responded. I'm more worried about how the American audiences will take it because nobody likes to have a mirror held up to them,” Caughell said.

In the United Kingdom, “They loved the show, I think, because it applies to everyone and not just Americans.”

As was indicated earlier, Caughell had a rural American upbringing. “I was raised on a ranch out in the country,” she said. But she was not unaware of American musical theater — and not just “Oklahoma!”

“I'm one of the lucky ones who knew what she wanted to be at 8 years old,” she said.

Elon University, where Caughell graduated with a BFA in the school's theater program, is known for its theatrical contacts, and a casting agent for “American Idiot” invited Caughell to audition.

So the distance between graduation and “American Idiot” was short. “I didn't have much time in between to say goodbye,” she recalled.

But of course there are no complaints about landing a role in a national and international tour before she even had a chance to move to New York City (where she does now live). “I know I'm so lucky. I couldn't be more thankful.”

“American Idiot” has bookings through mid-June, but there has been talk of extending the tour, or even going overseas again.

But asked about life beyond the show, when and if it comes, Caughell said, “I don't have any other plans as yet. The most wonderful thing is you don't know but you're excited for what the future will bring. So we'll see.”

Meanwhile, Michael Mayer, the original director of “American Idiot,” is making his Met Opera debut directing Verdi's “Rigoletto.” Since Mayer has taken the classic Italian opera and set it in 1960s Las Vegas, showgirls, pole-dancing and blackjack will also be making their Met debuts.